A compendium of the best reporting and commentary surrounding the pivotal 2024 elections in the United States. You will rarely find horse race coverage here, or the standard "both sides" BS that passes so often for political journalism. What you will find are links, with brief quotes from articles plus my take, to articles and other information that I believe advances the conversation we should be having about America's – and the world's – future. Remember: Everything is at stake this year. (Unfortunately, some of the work I point to is behind paywalls.)
The dueling speeches by the two candidates reflected how they’re honing their economic messages for voters in battleground states. Both are trying to counter criticism while laying out their best cases for a public that still worries about the economy’s health. Trump is focused on the idea of U.S. dominance over foreign competitors, while Harris is stressing the importance of supporting the middle class and entrepreneurs.
The AP story is a not-bad summary of what Trump and Harris had to say today, but if you have the time you should listen to at least the first 10-15 minutes of both speeches. Trump seems to have one idea: impose huge tariffs on pretty much everything from other countries. He sees the economy as a zero-sum game, where someone has to lose for Americans to gain. It's not, and Harris offers something much more useful – and with a lot of details that should lead the "where are your policies?" crowd to tone it down a bit. (Oh sure...)
About 57% of registered voters report feeling negatively about Project 2025, with 51% saying they see the proposal “very” negatively and another 7% saying they view it “somewhat” negatively. Just 4% of voters reported viewing the conservative policy plan positively.
This is basically good news, because it shows that the Trumpist dictatorship planning is actively loathed by a majority of registered voters. (Here's the actual survey, which NBC linked to in its story.) But it's downright scary that tens of millions of Americans do want a dictatorship. Combine opportunistic right-wing propaganda with genuine worries about the increasingly unpredictable nature of our lives, and you get the conditions under which democracies die. The survey, meanwhile, helps explain why so many Democratic candidates for Congress are harping on Project 2025 – it matters to the voters, and works in Democrats' favor.
Competition policy, consumer protection are on the line this year
The presidential election will decide whether this brief window of opportunity to radically reshape economic liberty in this country can fully take root as a more permanent policy structure. But the stakes for corporate power are uniquely multifaceted. It’s one of the rare policy areas where a baseline consensus has emerged, in large part because of a massive political shift since the 2008 financial crisis.
Among the many progressive elements of the Biden administration, the economic standout has been the resurgence in promoting competition and protecting everyday Americans from the predatory ways of the massive corporations that now control so much of our lives. This nuanced analysis takes a deep look into what we might expect from a Harris or Trump administration. On balance, as you might expect, Harris looks (considerably) more likely to work on our behalf than big business, including Big Tech. But it's not completely cut and dried. In his time in the White House, the article notes, Trump's agencies did some antitrust enforcement – though the biggest case, a media merger, was blatantly based on his pique with one unit (CNN) of one of the companies. And JD Vance has been complimentary about the Biden-appointed chair of the Federal Trade Commission.
Hundreds of millions in "fees" for Kushner – for what, exactly?
Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, the (Senate Finance) committee’s chairman, said the new information had only deepened his concerns that Mr. Kushner’s firm creates conflicts of interest, particularly with his father-in-law running for re-election. Mr. Wyden asked why Affinity Partners had not “distributed a penny of earnings back to clients,” and suggested that perhaps it was set up primarily as a way for foreign entities to pay the Kushners rather than a typical fund in which partners reap the returns of deployed capital.
Kushner got $3 billion from Saudi Arabia (which coughed up $2 billion) and other foreign entities just after Trump left the White House, when it was clear that another run for the presidency was in the cards. It smelled to high heaven for all kinds of reasons, and raised suspicions of being a payoff (or a bribe, if Trump reclaims the presidency). The Trump administration was by far the most corrupt in American history. Kushner and his wife, the boss' daughter, made countless millions on various deals while he was a member of Trump's staff. It still smells to high heaven.
Voting is just part of democracy, but it's the essential place to start. Make sure you're registered. Doublecheck in the fall, well before Election Day, because in some states Republican officials are removing people, mostly those who tend to vote for Democrats, from voting rolls.
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JOSH BOAK
Faith Wardwell
Luke Goldstein
